Wow, a gown arrived yesterday with profound proof that you should never seal a wedding gown. This dress was sent to us from Ann Gutierrez. It has been “safely” in storage for many years.  Now Ann is hoping her daughter will be able to wear the gown, but when she opened her preservation box, what a surprise! Terrible oxidized stains throughout the gown, the underarms are very yellow, and the area right in front, underneath the plastic window is yellowed.

How can this be possible?  First of all, on testing the box we discovered it was not acid-free (an essential for preservation).  Most likely it was dry-cleaned before storage, and it may have looked great at the time, but dry-cleaning does not remove water based substances such as champagne, clear soda, or even perspiration.   So over time, these substances still on the gown have oxidized into very bad stains.

If the gown had not been sealed, Ann could have inspected it periodically and discovered these stains sooner.

Preservation box was sealed	Wedding gown has yellowed under plastic window
Oxidized Hemline stains	Oxidized Underarm stains

We have been working on a wedding gown restoration for the Winter’s family in Maine.  We haven’t determined whether it is white enough.  As you can see from the photo, it is a lovely soft off white.  We can probably push it a bit further to a brighter white if necessary.  I have found that many people who have their vintage gowns restored do not want to remove all of the patina of age.  They would still like it identifiable as “antique” or vintage, but remove distinct yellowing and oxidized spots.

This gown is a beautiful silk organza over acetate satin gown dating from the 1970’s.  Penny Winters is hoping her daughter can wear the gown for her upcoming wedding.  It was in very good condition so it was a perfect candidate for restoration, although their were a number of oxidized yellow spots and general yellowing on the gown. It has restored beautifully. 

Carmina also did a beautiful job cleaning and repairing the veil, although when repairing tulle, you cannot make the repairs invisible. Fortunately there are some appliques on the headpiece that could be used to cover the veil repairs. Click on the smaller pictures to see up close photos.

Before	After
Veil Before	Veil After – click for close up

We had the opportunity to restore this precious communion dress this week. It was sent to us from the Mosier family in Honolulu, Hawaii. They were uncertain as to whether it could be salvaged for their daughter’s upcoming communion. But the gown has historical significance, as it has been worn by two generations already. Fortunately, we were able to restore it and a third generation will be able to participate in this family tradition.